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Day: January 7, 2012

The surname Almond appears in my tree eleven times at the moment. The name is found in my ancestry and also my wife’s. As far as I can tell so far there is no direct connection between the two family lines. My ancestors are found in Lancashire and those of my wife are in Lincolnshire.

According to surnamedb website the surname is of Old French and Anglo Saxon origin. It is said to have two possible sources.

Firstly, it may be from the English name for someone from Germany. This is derived from the Anglo Norman French word “aleman” meaning German or “alemayne” meaning Germany. This is said to be a Germanic tribal name, probably meaning “all the men”.

The second source is from the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name “ Athelmund”. This is made up of two elements – “athel” meaning noble, and “mund” meaning protection.

There is no evidence of any connection with the almond nut or tree.

The personal name was first recorded as “Almund” and “Ailmundus” in the Domesday Book of 1086. The surname was first recorded in the late 13th Century when Thomas Ailmun can be found in the “Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire” dated 1279.

William and Awdry Almond were some of the earliest settlers in the New World, leaving London on the “Abigail” in JUne 1635, bound for New England.

In the 1911 Census for England and Wales there are at least 5147 people recorded with the name Almond.